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<><><><><><><><><><><><> <> <> <> S u b S t o r e <> <> --------------- <> <> by John Lullie <> <> © Copyright 1991 <> <> <> <><><><><><><><><><><><> Version 1.3 FEATURES: ======== SubStore is a Magazine Subscription Database that allows you to store reference information from your monthly magazines such as Articles, Reviews and other items of interest. This can be a real time-saver when searching for something later that you KNOW you saw in that stack of magazines. Features include: Slick 3D Interface, Search, Print, Queue Window w/Print, Mail Order Info w/Names, Numbers & Notes, Subscription Editor Window for attaching User defined Brush/logos to be displayed for each Magazine you're working with, Repeat toggle for Date/Vol entries and more... SubStore is ShareWare! ===================== The Un-Registered version is freely distributable and may be uploaded anywhere you choose provided that the files included in this archive are left intact and un-modified. The REGISTERED version however is NOT freely distributable nor is it subject to sale by anyone other than the author. Doing so is considered a breach of the author's copyright! If you wish to have the Registered version of SubStore - PLEASE send a ShareWare fee of $15. In return, I'll send you the fully functional version of SubStore (the latest version of course), and Laser Printed (w/graphics) Documentation. Please send to: John Lullie 10701 SW 10th Court Davie, FL 33324 Thanks! SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: =================== Any AMIGA w/1MEG of RAM (or more) WorkBench 2.04 STRONGLY recommended but not required. Hard Drive recommended but not required. INSTALLATION: ============ If you were using the Un-Registered version and wish to retain the data you already input, then do the following: (Skip these three steps if you have no data to save.) 1) Do NOT delete the Un-Registered version of SubStore, its drawer or anything in it yet, we'll need the data from it. 2) Inside the directory of your Un-Registered version, you will find a directory called "SubData". This is where all your data is kept. Copy this directory into the NEW SubStore directory on the disk I sent you. This can be easily done with a decent disk utility like "Directory Opus" or "DiskMaster". 3) Drag the "SubStore" drawer icon from the floppy disk anywhere onto your hard drive. You can now delete your old version of SubStore. Double-Click the Sub.Installer icon. All this Installer will do is copy a small file to your "C" directory which SubStore needs in order to run. As for SubStore, you can place it anywhere you choose but it should be in its own directory. Hard Drive Users: (Skip this section if you've done the steps above.) ---------------- Simply drag the "SubStore" drawer anywhere onto your hard drive. If you wish to create another directory for its files please do NOT use spaces in the directory name. You may want to create one other directory called "Brushes" and place it inside SubStore's directory IF you plan to use the Brush/Logo option explained below. (I have supplied a "Brushes" drawer already, with the Brush/Logos inside) Floppy Drive Users: ------------------ Please buy a Hard Drive! Although SubStore will run fine on a floppy based system, it will be a lot slower when accessing files (which it does a lot of). The procedure for installing SubStore on a floppy system is the same as for Hard Drive Users. * TUTORIAL * ======== After launching SubStore, a small credit window will open. Click anywhere on this window to make it go away. SUBSCRIPTION EDITOR: =================== Go to the ToolBox and click on the Subscription Editor button (see Figure-1). This is where new Subscriptions are entered into SubStore. On the upper right you will see three buttons (New, UnDo and Trash). Below these buttons, a string gadget (or field) for entering Subscription names, and below that, a List window which will display all the current Subscriptions. Click on the "New" button. A cursor will be placed into the field awaiting your input. Type in a Subscription title (Amiga World) for example, and press [Return]. The title "Amiga World" (I'll use that for reference) will appear in the List window. The Subscription is created and the cursor will be placed back into the field for your next entry. That's all you need to do to create new Subscriptions. You can either close the SubScription Editor now or continue and use the brush/logo option described below. NOTE: If you're not interested in using the Brush/Logo option, skip ahead to "Adding Articles, Reviews and Other". CREATING A BRUSH/LOGO: --------------------- A brush may be attached to each particular magazine subscription that will be displayed in the main window when referencing that Subscription. For example, the "Amiga World" brush/logo (that is included) would be displayed when you are working with or referencing that magazine. If you were working with "Amazing Computing" - the brush/logo for that magazine would be displayed. In order to use the brush/logo option, you will need to have a brush or several brushes available to select from. I've included a few with the program already: Amiga World, Amazing Computing and .info magazine. These were created using a template called "Brush.Grid" in DeluxePaint and saved as brushes. You can use these brushes or modify them to your own liking. The only thing you MUST remember is to use the palette that the "Brush.Grid" uses. (The "Brush.Grid" is explained below). There are some rules to follow when creating these brushes for use in SubStore, and are as follows: 1) Load "Brush.Grid" into DPaint as a picture (not a brush). 2) Each brush MUST be within a certain size (shown on the Brush.Grid). 3) The new brush MUST use the same color palette as the Brush.Grid. 4) Save the brush into the "Brushes" directory inside the SubStore directory. Using the Brush.Grid file: ------------------------- Open "Brush.Grid" as a picture in DPaint or any paint program for that matter that supports 16 color IFF. This template will display the exact area with which you can create or paste your brush. When you are finshed with your brush, use the brush tool and clip only the area of your brush that you will need. You don't have to clip your brush to the exact dimension lines shown in the grid as long as you are WITHIN this area. You can fine tune the position later in the Subscription Editor. Once the brush has been picked up, save it AS a brush using any name you choose ("AmigaWorld.Br" for example) into the "Brushes" drawer in SubStore's directory. NOTE: Please do not use any spaces in the filename. ATTACHING A BRUSH/LOGO: ---------------------- Launch SubStore and open the Subscription Editor. Click on a Subscription title (in the List window) that you want a brush/logo attached to. If a brush was already attached, it will be displayed. Otherwise, click the "Load Brush" button. A file requester will open into SubStore's "Brushes" directory. If you saved your brush here - it should already be listed on the right side of this requester. Click on the brush you want and then click the "Ok" button. The requester will close and your brush will be displayed in the brush area of the Subscription Editor window. The small box that your brush is displayed in is a representation of the brush area on SubStore's Main screen. In other words, the position of your brush here in the Subscription Editor will be in the same position on the Main Screen. To adjust or center your brush in this box, use the "[+]" and "[-]" buttons for the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) positions. The button specifications are as follows: X: [+] = Move brush right 2 pixels per click. X: [-] = Move brush left 2 pixels per click. Y: [+] = Move brush down 2 pixels per click. Y: [-] = Move brush up 2 pixels per click. [.] = Start over. (Will move the brush to its original load position) [X] = Clears the brush area. When you are satisfied with the position of your brush, click on the "Attach/Save" brush button. If you have more Subscriptions and have brushes for each, just follow the same steps as above for each one. Click the "Ok" button in the Subscription Editor when you are finished. If you wish to verify the attached brush/logos for your Subscriptions, you can call up the Editor again and click in the List box on any Subscription title that has a brush attached. It will be displayed in the brush area. Or, on SubStore's Main screen, click on the Left or Right arrow buttons under the "Current Subscription" box. Removing a Brush/Logo: --------------------- If you want to remove a brush/logo that has been attached to a Subscription, click on the Subscription name in the List window, click on the Clear button [X] and then click "Attach/Save". Since NO brush is displayed - no brush will be attached. Adding Articles, Reviews and Other: ---------------------------------- Once you have a new Subscription name entered, you can begin to add the names of Articles, Reviews or Other that may be of interest to you along with the Issue Date or Volume and Page numbers. Of course, you will not have to enter every article and review unless you wish to. I usually only key in the items I may be interested in sometime in the future. Like many people, my interests change from time to time, or, I may decide to buy another Hard Drive and want to locate all the reviews on them. Current Subscription Box: ------------------------ Located in the upper left area of the screen, you'll see the "Current Subscription" box with left and right arrow buttons. This box displays the current Subscription Brush/Logo that you are working with, that is - IF you attached a brush/logo. Either way, as you click on either the left or right arrows, the Subscription names will be displayed in the "Magazine" field at the bottom of the screen. Click either of these arrows until the Subscription name you want is displayed in the "Magazine" field. Next, you'll have to tell SubStore what type of entry you'll be making; Article, Review or Other. To do this, click on one of the three "Add.." buttons located under the three List windows (Add Article, Add Review or Add Other). A checkmark symbol will appear on the button and a hand pointer will point to the corresponding List window. This hand pointer means that anything you enter into the fields at the bottom of the screen will be entered into that List window. Now you are ready to key in the actual data. The cursor should already be positioned in the "Date/Vol#" field ready for your input. Begin by entering the Date or Volume# of the issue (i.e 12/91 or Vol 6). The format you use for the Date or Volume is not really important. You could type "Dec 91", "December 91" or "Issue 45", it doesn't matter. (Automatic sorting is alphabetical by Articles, Reviews or Other, not by date.) After pressing [Return], the cursor will move to the "Page#" field. Enter the page number of the Article, Review or Other, and press [Return]. The cursor will again move to its last position in one of the three fields corresponding to the entry type you've selected. For example, if you are entering reviews and the "Add Reviews" button was toggled on - then the cursor will be waiting in the "Review" field. Type in the title of the Review, Article or Other and press [Return]. This will complete the entry and store it. It will show up in the selected List window and the cursor will be placed back in the "Date/Vol#" field for your next entry. Using the Repeat Option: [Rpt] button: ------------------------------------- Next to the "Date/Vol#" field is a "Rpt" toggle button. What this does (when toggled on) is allow you to automatically have the previous date or volume number remain in the field until you change it again. The cursor will skip this field and go directly to the "Page#" field. This seemed like the logical thing to do since you will most likely be working with one Subscription issue at a time. Once the very first entry for an issue has been made, you'll only need to enter the page number and title for each entry. Using the Note Option: [Note] button: ------------------------------------ Next to the "Note" field is a "Note" toggle button. What this does (when toggled on) is place the cursor into the Note field after pressing [Return] in any of the three title fields (Article, Review, Other). This allows you to attach a note to each (or any) entry. If you do not wish to attach a note to EVERY entry, just leave the note field empty and press [Return]. Or, you can just toggle the button off and the Note field will be bypassed. You can also attach notes to current entries (already input) by clicking on the item in the List window, typing a note in the Note field and pressing [Return]. This will update that entry with a your note. THE ToolBox: =========== HELP: ---- Opens the OnLine Help System. This is a trimmed down version of this Manual with a description of each function. TRACKS: ------ Opens the Subscription Tracker window. This is a simple editor to enter the starting and ending dates for your Subscriptions, number of issues ordered (i.e. 12,24,36 etc) as well as a note. The procedure for entering information is similar to the MailOrder option. Click on the Subscription you want, then enter the information. Press [Return] in each field (especially the Note field) to save the entry. To edit an entry, click on the Subscription title, click into the field you wish to edit, when finished, press [Return] in the Note field. Search Button (Magnifying Glass): ------------- Opens the Search requester. In this requester you will see four buttons and one field. The three toggle buttons at the top tell the program which List window to perform the search in (Articles, Reviews or Other). At present, you can only select one at time. In the center, there is a field for entering the text you wish to search for. And finally the "Done" button at the bottom is for closing the Search window. To perform a search, select one of the three buttons, type the text you wish to search for and press [Return]. The "Next" button that appears, allows you to continue the search. When you're finished, click on the "Done" button. Subscription Editor (Stack of Magazines): ------------------- Opens the Subscription Editor. This is where new Subscription Titles are entered. See "SUBSCRIPTION EDITOR" above which describes step by step how to create and enter a new Subscription. Print Button (Printer): ------------ Opens the Print Requester. In order for this button to respond, one of the three List windows must be selected (the hand pointer must be displayed over Articles, Reviews or Other). You will have two options: Selected Only: ------------- Prints the Magazine name, Date/Vol, Page#, Title and Note of the selected item in the selected List window. Entire List: ----------- Prints the Magazine name, Date/Vol, Page#, Title and Note for each of the items in the selected List window. Queue Window (Letter "Q" with tiny stacked documents): ------------ Opens the Queue Window. This Queue window allows you to temporarily store individual items from any of the three List windows. The items that are held in this window can then be printed or exported as an ASCII (text) file. The Queue Window Buttons: [X]: Deletes the selected item from the Queue window. [!]: UnDo the last deleted item from the Queue window. Clear: Removes all the items in the Queue window. Export: Opens a file requester for saving the contents of the Queue Window. This file will be saved as an ASCII (text) file containing all the information for each item (Magazine, Date/Vol#, Page#'s, Titles and Notes). Print: Prints entire contents of Queue window. This functions the same as the Export option but the Queue contents is sent to the printer. To close the Queue window, click on the close box in the upper left corner of this window. Mail Order (Airplane): ---------- Opens Mail Order Info Window. This was included mostly because I LOVE Mail Order AND UPS trucks! Since 99% of computer magazines contain several Mail Order companies, I find it easy to store the new ones as well as the old and have the entire list of them at my disposal. Besides the name and number, a note can be attached to each entry. For example, if a Mail Order company specializes in computer chips - I'll key that in the Note field for reference. If one offers $3.00 overnight shipping - I'll enter that and so on. You may find it useful. To make a new Mail Order entry, click on the "New" button. The cursor will be placed in the "Name" field. Enter the name of the Mail Order company and press [Return]. The cursor will move to the "Number" field. Enter the phone number and press [Return]. Finally, the cursor will be placed in the "Note" field. Type in anything for this Mail Order company that sets it apart from the rest (if anything). NOTE: You must press [Return] in the "Note" field to complete the entry. Once an entry has been made, it is stored in the Mail Order List window. To view an entry, click on any Mail Order title name in the List window. All three fields will show the information pertaining to the selected item. Mail Order Buttons: ------------------ New: Activates the "Name" field for a new entry. Print: Prints all info for the selected Mail Order company (Name, Number and Notes). Trash: Deletes the selected Mail Order company. UnTrash: Will UnDelete the last deleted Mail Order company. Done: Closes the Mail Order Info Window. Prefs (Question Mark): ----- Opens The Preferences Window. Same as selecting the "Preferences" menu option. See "Preferences" under "MENU DESCRIPTIONS:". OTHER BUTTON DESCRIPTIONS: ========================= Quit Gadget: (Upper left corner of the main window.) ----------- Exits SubStore. Front/Back Gadget: ----------------- Standard gadget for sending SubStore's screen to the back and bringing WorkBench to the front. Brush/Logo Arrows: (Under the "Current Subscription" Box) ----------------- Moves back and forth through Subscription titles. The titles of each Subscription entered will be displayed in the Magazine field. If a brush has been attached to a Subscription title - it will be displayed in the Brush/Logo box. "Q" Buttons: (Located under each List Window) ----------- Sends a selected item to the Queue window (IF the Queue window is open). If the Queue window is NOT open, this button will be ignored. Add Articles: ------------ Tells SubStore that all actions will be directed to the Articles window. Add Reviews: ----------- Tells SubStore that all actions will be directed to the Reviews window. Add Other: --------- Tells SubStore that all actions will be directed to the Others window. NOTE: By "Actions", I mean data entry, queues and printing. MENU DESCRIPTIONS: ================= Project: ------- About SubStore: -------------- Displays the Credits window. Click this window to make it go away. Preferences: ----------- Opens the Prefs window. The options in this window are as follows: At Startup, Load: ----------------- The options here are mainly for those with a minimal amount of memory or those who might be interested in one particlular kind of information. You may only want to use the Reviews option for example. Always Start With: ------------------ This tells SubStore the default Subscription to start with. For example, if you wish to always start with Amiga World - then the Brush/Logo (if there is one) for Amiga World would be displayed along with the "Magazine" field defaulting to "Amiga World" at startup. This setting will stay until you change it or delete the Subscription entirely. Repeat On/Off: -------------- Sets the default state for the [Rpt] button on the main window. (See "Using the Repeat Option".) Note On/Off: ----------- Sets the default state for the "Note" button on the main window. (See "Using the Note Option".) Cancel Button: ------------- Cancels the changes and exits preferences. Save Button: ----------- Saves the changes and exits preferences. Quit: ---- Exits the program. Edit Menu: ========= UnDo Delete: ----------- Un-Deletes a deleted entry. Clear All Fields: ---------------- Empties the contents all fields except "Magazine". Delete Selected...: ------------------ Article: ------- Removes the selected Article from the List window and database. Review: ------ Removes the selected Review from the List window and database. Other: ----- Removes the selected Other from the List window and database. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please send suggestions, comments or bug reports to: CompuServe: John Lullie/ UserID 70700,2454 GEnie: UserID - J.LULLIE